Key is to push your blog, but not all the way to annoyance.
It’s like walking a tight rope; you want to introduce your new blog gracefully with others but not yell and scream from the rooftop to get attention. Nobody likes a pushy salesman forcefully selling you his product without your consent.

Piecemeal it based on your comfort level.
Share your blog initially (via email) with your inner circle of peeps you feel most comfortable with, and can trust. Your family and close friends! Then, as you get more comfortable extend it to others – your community, colleagues, boss, sports buddies etc. and your circle expands.

Tweet about it on Twitter. But don’t get into the copy-paste mode!
Share your new post initially by tweeting about it. Keyword being ‘once’. Don’t sneak in your post by re-tweeting it in regular intervals thinking people won’t notice! Newsflash, people do! Imagine this noxious guy at the party yakking about himself non-stop the entire time. Yeahh! You don’t want to be that guy. If your blog is worth its mettle, people will carry it out for you by RT’ing it. Remember to thank them promptly when they do!

Think bigger and leverage your LinkedIn.
You can promote and advertise your blog by updating the ‘post an update’ feature under the ‘edit your profile’ section. You can take it a step further by downloading the ‘Wordpress’ application and synching it your profile page. That way, it will show regular updates of your blog on your LinkedIn page. This is especially useful if you are using WordPress for your blog. This enhances your visibility with your larger professional network of colleagues, senior management and even potential recruiters.

Are you in for the long haul? Then, its time to create a Facebook fan page.
Create a separate Facebook page for your blog under the brand, product or organization category. Customize the tabs and ensure that your profile and description is similar to what you have on your blog, including your blog title, logo and profile picture. This helps in creating a continued brand experience when people move from your blog to your Facebook page. Use this page wisely to optimize your blog goals. Bear in mind, this is one more thing to create and manage regularly. So get into it only after you think you are ready for it.

Let your work speak louder than you!
Remember, content is still king! If your writing isn’t authentic or appealing, people will roll their eyes and interest will fizzle out no matter how hard you try to promote it. So focus on the quality of your work and readers will come back.

Recognize that your blog at some level is an extension of you.
So be socially responsible and conscious of what you put out there. Portray your blog in the same light as you’d like to be portrayed and perceived in person.

Don’t be afraid to give link-backs if you are contributing to a particular topic.
Always try to give shout-outs and track-back to the pundits out there. Don’t be a narcissist! It’s a reflection that you are not living in your own kingdom, but making an attempt to read your fellow bloggers’ works. This will help in giving your work latitude making your content richer and multi-dimensional.

Most important, and crucial…Patience! Patience! Patience! (Have patience!)
Yeah! Doesn’t it have the same ring as location, location location?! Basically, building your profile through your blog takes time. It’s certainly not a viral or overnight process. In this day and age where we are inundated with never-before-seen information, people click and choose their time online. Respect that it is people’s personal time, so don’t try to encroach it forcefully. Politely welcome them to your blog, and let your work speak for itself!

Check out Chris Brogan of New Marketing Labs and Andrea Bartz and Brenna Ehrlich from Netiquette, CNN who offer further tips on promoting yourself online.

What lessons did you learn about promoting your blog?

Photo by Mr Ush

‘Food for thought’ as you get ready to launch your blog

Don’t be stuck in ‘analysis-paralysis’ get moving with it.
Blogging does not have to be sweat-breaking process that follows the sentiments of a white paper, so don’t over think it, let the creative juices just flow and enjoy the process.

Don’t go for perfection or uniqueness – doesn’t exist.
I kept stressing on what could I say ‘new’ that’s not been said before? Then it just hit me; it’s not what you say but how you say it that brings the novelty in it. People will always welcome your viewpoint on a specific topic. So make it unique by giving it your voice.

Always imagine yourself sitting across your boss sharing feedback over a cup of coffee.
Getting comfortable with this mental visual as you write your blog will help keep the tone of your blog engaging and conversational.

First write recklessly with your heart, then go back and revise it with your head.
Try not to be over-cautious as you write your first draft; just write what comes to you initially. This will bring out the spontaneity and allow your readers to get to know you better. Then, imagine having the same conversation with your boss and revise it accordingly!

Find people you can trust who can call a spade a spade.
Networking is key! Find people who you aspire to be like and can learn from. More importantly, surround yourself with people who are not afraid to give you honest feedback about your work. I thank my family for being my biggest critics pushing me to do better!

Content is still king!
If you do, invest in this whole-heartedly, for the right reasons and don’t shirk on the quality of work. If you want your readers to come back, your content must appeal!

If you are out there trying to venture into this, don’t bother to reinvent the wheel – leverage the one that currently exists! These are few of the blog sites that I admire (listed in no particular order) –

• Chris Brogan
• David B. Thomas
• Ignite Social Media
• Marketing + branding+ design – Chris Moody
• Reid All About It – Deirdre Reid
• SocialWayne.com – Wayne Sutton
• Square Jaw Media – Brian McDonald
• StaceyAlex.com – Stacey Alexander
• real business intelligence for real users – Angela Hall
• Marketing Hipster – Cord Silverstein
• Mashable
• Social Media Examiner

What has been some of the interesting advice you have gotten or shared with others on blogging?

I was curious about signing up on Twitter wondering what to do with it next? It all started as fun and games when a friend of mine coaxed me to sign up on Twitter last year as a way to stay in touch and have live conversations. In less than a year since I signed up, I’ve started using Twitter as my primary source of information and knowledge. It’s become my daily go-to site for everything. I get my daily dose of live local and global news, get inspired reading posts from my blogging gurus, follow updates on newly posted jobs in my area, even trust the movie reviews I read helping me decide my Friday plans for that week!

Like Twitter, I’m curious to follow the evolution of social media and its potential impact on my life. I’m curious to see how it is transforming the way I perceive the world around me. How it is changing the ways I assimilate knowledge and gather news from dynamic sources. Primarily, I’m most curious to see the domino effect it is starting to have in my life and influencing how I communicate with my world.

Truth is, I have been actively engaging in social media since its inception without even realizing it! Look around, social media has permeated our everyday life influencing how we perceive and engage with the world around us. Right from the choices we make each morning starting with the brand of coffee you drink, the clothes you wear, the stocks you choose to invest in or the restaurant you go to and celebrate your special events are all influenced in some fashion through a more dynamic form of ‘word of mouth’ – the social media. I had to be a part of this revolutionary form of communication and pen my thoughts along this process.

So in getting back to the ‘why bother?’ part, I felt ‘now’ would be a good time to transfer my longtime illegible squiggles from my small red notebook and convert it into an actual blog. I therefore start this blog with a pure intention of getting back to writing using this medium as a bouncing board to share my thoughts, experiences, questions and hopefully a few eureka moments. As a social media enthusiast, I’m curious to see where this process takes me, and eager to document and share this with you as I surf through the bursting world of social media and its yet to be explored potentials. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I know I’ll enjoy writing about it. Would love to hear your side of ‘why bother?’ that got you into blogging.